Space as a promising and profitable area of business

07.09.15

Space is an industry where successful private companies see great development prospects and profit. The XXI century is a period of time when innovative technologies have become common and ordinary things. We rarely think about reasons for their creation. It is logical that further space exploration is of great current interest as it is regarded as a branch of the business. Will it be possible to earn on it or do we need to open new horizons?

There are many examples that prove: investments in space technologies and researches are a source of huge profits, because of their usage in the economic sector.

The appearance of solar cells, originally invented for the space vehicles, allowed to create solar energy, capable to transform the energy market, as it happened during the shale gas revolution. In some regions of the world, the public utilities using solar energy are becoming an alternative to natural gas.

The orbital telescope Hubble is an automatic observatory in the Earth orbit, which was created solely for research purposes.

As the part of the study, they collected a lot of information about the stars and galaxies, and it was required to transform this information to the Earth. For this purpose, it was necessary to develop technologies for remote data transfer.

The orbital telescope creation cost about $ 6 billion, but data transmission technologies created for this program were applied in mobile communication and paid back the cost of Hubble.

Mobile communication received massive development assistance since the late 1970s, but significant growth of the industry occurred in the mid-1990s.

A lot of us cannot imagine that earlier people drove without navigators. However, the creation of a global satellite system was performed only for military purposes. Nevertheless, a navigation system entered our lives and helped the economy. What is meant here is satellite monitoring of transport, navigation, geodesy and cartography, geotagging and geocaching. Everyone should agree that due to satellite communications, satellite television and the Internet, the quality of life has been improved greatly.

The following new medicine equipment was created due to space technologies: MRI and CT scanners, equipment for hemodialysis and cardioangiography, defibrillators, robotic surgeons. Sensors monitoring contaminants in the air and systems filtering and cleaning the water and controlling the quality of food are a part of the space technologies. These developments are intended to provide health care services and protect the environment on the planet.

According to various estimates, the global market of space services is estimated at $ 300-400 billion, and it increases by 5% annually. The cost of rockets and satellites launch amounts to $ 40 billion. By 2030, we will see new types of launch vehicles, as well as new developments accelerating the growth of the space products and services market, the volume of which will reach $ 1.5 trillion.

Experience has shown that space technology has become an innovative business. Its successful development is within the power of a state the ambition or military-political goals of which make it restless. In addition, private companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla Motors and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic have joined this race. NanoRacks, a private research company, has its compartments on the ISS. NovaWurks is a renowned developer of small satellites for business. Odyssey Space Research, a private brand of navigation technologies, is renowned for having been able to conclude a number of interesting contracts with large corporations.

Why is space so appealing to business?

In particular, an endless universe allows you to develop innovation and stimulate scientific and technological progress. Some researchers believe that wars provide the development of technology and the progress of civilization. However, the space can stimulate human development much faster and more efficiently. What is important, you can avoid massive casualties and destruction.

Moreover, in the space, you can use all the emerging technologies. What other discoveries can be made in the space industry? How can one put ambitious goals?

There are several areas of development:

Safe and promising fusion energy that is based on the helium-3 isotope;
Systems that remotely transmit energy on the basis of electromagnetic induction; systems that transform solar energy into electricity;
High-speed transportation systems, including those that ensure transfer in the atmosphere and under the water;
Developments in the field of robotics and AI;
Systems that provide the vital activity;
Systems that establish ultra-high capacity connection;
New composite materials;
Optical and thermostatically controlled technology;
IT-technologies that are based on ternary logic, change the modern vision of computational mathematics, and make modern computers more efficient.

Of course, Russia is lagging behind in the space race, but it has all the chances to catch up. Well, let's hope so.

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